6/02/2006

At work, the TV in the lobby is always turned to Headline News. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if Headline News, like its parent channel CNN, weren't trying to copy the Fox News "offend-and-annoy" model. A good example of how bad this change in HN's lineup is is reflected in the main reasons I'm making this post: Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck.

First off, Glenn Beck. If you've been reading Media Matters for America, then you know how bad this guy is: he's a gibbering moron tryong to follow the "shout 'em down, bully 'em out" model of such right-wing blowhards as Loofah O'Reilly and Pigman Limbaugh. Don't believe me? Take some examples of what he's said, both on his show on HN and his radio hate-fest:

And it's not just the fact that he says this disgusting shit that bothers me; it's the fact that CNN's commercials try to tout this jackass as a "normal guy". Yeah, normal guys make it a point to want to nuke whole countries if they don't kiss his lily-white ass. Normal guys call grieving mothers prostitutes. Normal guys hate tragedy victims. If that's what normal guys do, then by God, I'm abnormal.

Second, my hatred of Nancy Grace. This is a minor point, but one I have to get out: this woman is a big red herring. Every night, her show is the source of more Missing/Dead Pretty White Woman stories. She does NOTHING ELSE, far as I've seen. Her only point is to distract people from the real stories, the real problems of this world, by filling them with fear that their Pretty White Women may be next.

At least I don't have to pay too much attention to the TV there. I can always just keep working.